HEART-TO-HEART

February 14, 1949

HOLLYWOOD – Lucille Ball, in a heart-to-heart talk with me, told me how she has worked out her eight years of marriage to Desi Arnaz, her orchestra leader husband. 

Lucille, smartly dressed in a dark brown suit with one of those little hats set back on her red hair, might have posed for a fashion picture, she looked so chic. As she walked into the room, I thought I had never seen her look so well.

One thing I like about Lucille is that she never gives you any double talk. She is always stralght-from-the-shoulder which is a help. 

“How have you and Desi worked out your marriage?” I asked her. 

I had seen them a few nights before at a party, and they seemed to be having so much fun together. Lucille was a dream in pale blue chiffon, and Desi kept telling her how pretty she looks, which is a thing every woman likes to hear.

"I’ll tell you how we have made our marriage,” she said. “You know we were separated once, and when we realized we were really in love with each other, we went back and have never separated again. I have never regretted that separation because it taught me an important thing.” 

I sat and listened eagerly to hear how Lucille, or anyone else, could consider a marital separation a benefit. 

"People in Hollywood,” Lucille said, “who divorce and take on new mates make better wives and husbands the second time because they have had experience and know how to handle their marriage. I figure with Desi and I it was as if we had new mates. We learned our lesson and we gained experience. I treated him as I would a new husband, and he gave me the attention he would give a new wife." 

I took a long breath after listening to this strange philosophy, "But what if you had separated for good, and hadn’t gone back together?" 

"Oh, that wasn’t possible,” Lucille replied. “Desi is really sweet. I flare up some times, but he knows it is not serious. We promised each other we wouldn’t let every little thing upset us.”

“What about his Latin temperament?” I asked her.

“You would be surprised how he has calmed down. The arguments we have now are generally my fault." 

I don’t know that I would recommend this separation thing for everyone, but it seems to have worked out for Lucille and Desi. 

"I filed suit for divorce,” she said. “It went that far. The only trouble now is our careers. I was gone three months last year with ‘Dream Girl’ on the stage, and Desi was gone longer than that with his orchestra. Of course, we had dates. He would fly to me when he could, and I would fly to him, but our dream is to both be able to have our jobs in the same town at the same time. But until we do, we are going to work It out the best way we can. Then later, I want to have a baby.”

“I heard you were going to adopt a baby,” I told her. 

“Wouldn’t that be silly, when I can have one of my own?" 

I learned from Lucille that she Is really a home girl at heart. They still live on their ranch in Northridge; have a few chickens, and did have a cow “until she got lonesome one night and broke into the house to see us.” 

“I like to cook. Desi Is a wonderful cook and you don’t see us night clubbing very much,” she said.

Lucille started as a chorus girl as a Ziegfeld beauty, and she likes to tell the story of how she came out here as a Goldwyn girl, got fired and was later rehired. 

She is under contract to Columbia to make one picture a year. 

“I will tell you a secret” she said. “I would like to be under contract to Columbia all the time, but I’m afraid Harry Cohn and I might battle. I value his friendship too much to risk It.” 

That is certainly a new angle! But as I said, this girl is full of many surprises. She fights for what she believes is right. She was completely happy at M-G-M, and adores that studio, but she left because she felt there were too many actresses there and she didn’t have a chance. She gave up a big fat salary to go on her own. 

She is a girl who is a little hard to know, but once you know her, she can talk you into her side in nothing flat. She has a convincing way.